The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention(s). It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art, or material, to the presently described or claimed inventions, or that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of lottery ticket scratcher devices and more specifically relates to a tool for scratching a lottery ticket scratch-off system.
2. Description of the Related Art
For tens of millions of Americans working away at their jobs and seeing the days, weeks, and years fly by, playing the lottery provides a real chance, however remote, of striking it rich. Playing the lottery provides a chance to dream. When we purchase a ticket in our state lottery, whether the big-money, multi-state games, or a scratch-off ticket, we know full well that our chance of winning the jackpot is roughly the same as our chance of getting struck by a meteorite, but we play, week in and week out, and take our chances. A lottery ticket in the pocket is a ticket to dream. Office workers who pool their resources and buy their weekly tickets together can dream of the day the boss walks in and finds them all gone; the man who hates his work buys his ticket and dreams of striking it rich, leaving his unsatisfying life behind, and spending his days fishing for blue marlin and his nights enjoying pina coladas at a tiki bar in the tropics.
With a scratch-off ticket, of course, our chances of winning something are better even if the mega-millions jackpot will not be our prize. And a scratch-off ticket lets us know, on the spot, whether we've won. All we have to do is scratch off the opaque film and check the numbers or symbols to see if we've won. For scratching off this film, most of us fish a penny or nickel out of our pocket or purse and scratch away a bit of a pain and a whole lot of scratching, since the edge of the coin makes such a narrow blade. A more efficient scratching means is desirable.
Various attempts have been made to solve problems found in lottery ticket scratcher device art. Among these are found in: U.S. Publication No. 2009/0300921 to Andrew Strickman et al; U.S. Publication No. 2002/0152572 to William L. Steinmetz et al; U.S. Pat. No. 7,712,179 to Patrick Timothy Lemke. This prior art is representative of lottery ticket scratcher devices. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the invention as claimed.
Ideally, a tool for scratching a lottery ticket scratch-off system would be user-friendly and safe in-use and, yet may operate reliably and be manufactured at a modest expense. Thus, a need exists for a tool for scratching a lottery ticket scratch-off system that is structured and arranged for quickly and cleanly scratching off an opaque film on scratch-off lottery tickets and to avoid the above-mentioned problems.